Publications by authors named "Harkin D"

Contemporary health professions education has long delineated the desired attributes of medical professionalism in the form of standard curricula and their role in forming professional behaviors (PBs) among aspiring doctors. However, existing research has shown the contradictory and powerful role of hidden curriculum (HC) in negatively influencing medical students' PBs through unspoken or implicit academic, cultural, or social standards and practices. These contrasting messages of formal curricula and HC lead to discordance and incongruence in future healthcare professionals developing professional identity formation.

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  • Over the past 40 years, around 40,000 Australians have undergone corneal transplants, primarily due to conditions like keratoconus and Fuchs' dystrophy, with increasing demand due to an aging population.
  • The global shortage of donor corneas is significant, with demand exceeding supply by 70 times, particularly in less-developed countries, prompting advancements in tissue banking and surgical techniques.
  • New strategies like organ culture for donor corneas, bespoke surgical methods, and cell culture technologies are improving tissue storage, reducing transplant requirements, and enhancing patient care for corneal conditions.
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Purpose: Bordering the central nervous system (CNS) parenchyma are the choroid (underlying the retina) and the leptomeninges (the inner layers of the meninges enveloping the brain). Although near the neural parenchyma, the choroid and leptomeninges are external to the immune privileged environment of the retina and brain and thus are distinct immune compartments. This study aimed to characterize the transcriptomic signatures of immune cells within the choroid and leptomeninges bordering the healthy adult mouse CNS.

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  • - The DEBIOC trial explored the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant treatment using oxaliplatin and capecitabine (Xelox) with or without AZD8931 in patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma, showing moderate safety but limited effectiveness.
  • - Researchers analyzed genetic data from 25 pre-treatment and 18 post-treatment biopsy samples to examine how these treatments influenced biological pathways related to cancer through advanced software tools.
  • - Their findings identified three molecular subgroups linked to immune response, with treatment affecting immune signaling and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, while the addition of AZD8931 promoted a less favorable immunosuppressive environment and common cancer resistance mechanisms.
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Background: There has been an alarming surge in the usage of social networking sites (SNSs) by healthcare professionals (HCPs) without adherence to the principles of professionalism. The widespread use of SNSs in medical practices has been coupled with reports of breaches of professional behaviors. Despite the benefits of SNSs, skepticism prevails about a clearly defined role for SNSs within medicine based upon the core principles of professionalism.

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Aims: The escalating prevalence of dementia globally highlights the urgency for effective nursing care and dementia education. The aim of this review was to synthesize evidence on dementia education programmes for pre-registration nursing, exploring the types implemented, the contexts in which they operate, the mechanisms influencing their success, and their intended and unintended outcomes.

Design: A realist synthesis approach was employed to explore the functioning of complex interventions within specific contexts, acknowledging the intricate nature of dementia education programmes and the diverse settings in which they are implemented.

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous collection of particles that play a crucial role in cell-to-cell communication, primarily due to their ability to transport molecules, such as proteins. Thus, profiling EV-associated proteins offers insight into their biological effects. EVs can be isolated from various biological fluids, including donor blood components such as cryoprecipitate and fresh frozen plasma (FFP).

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Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the illness trajectories of patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) after revascularization and estimate the independent risks of major amputation and death (from any cause) and their interaction.

Methods: Data from Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care were used to identify patients (≥50 years of age) who underwent lower limb revascularization for PAD in England from April 2013 to March 2020. A Markov illness-death model was developed to describe patterns of survival after the initial lower limb revascularization, if and when patients experienced major amputation, and survival after amputation.

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Background: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) remains a major contributor to transfusion-associated mortality. While the pathogenesis of TRALI remains unclear, there is evidence of a role for blood components. We therefore investigated the potential effects of fresh frozen plasma (FFP), cryoprecipitate, and extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from these blood components, on the viability of human lung microvascular endothelial cells (HLMVECs) in vitro.

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Introduction: Professional identity formation (PIF) is an ongoing, self-reflective process involving habits of thinking, feeling and acting like a physician and is an integral component of medical education. While qualitative work has suggested that PIF is informed by professionalism, resilience, and leadership, there is a dearth of quantitative work in this area. Multiple methods build rigor and the present study aimed to quantitatively assess the relative psychometric contributions of professionalism, resilience, and leadership constructs to informing PIF, using a latent factor analysis approach.

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Background: The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of introducing a digital health education tool (dHET) for varicose vein surgery.

Methods: This randomized, feasibility study allocated 40 patients, into dHET (n = 20) or standard consent (SC) (n = 20) groups. Primary outcomes were related to feasibility.

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Introduction: Teaching professionalism is a fundamental aspect of medical undergraduate education, delivering important domains of professional attitudes, ethics, and behaviors. The effects of educational interventions can be assessed by measuring the change in such domains, but validated assessment tools for these professionalism domains are lacking. In this study, we constructed and conducted expert validation of a modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) questionnaire to assess changes in professional behaviors (PBs) in medical students.

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Aim: To gain a greater understanding of how compression therapy affects quality of life, this systematic review appraised existing published studies measuring the impact of compression therapy on health quality of life (HRQoL), and pain, among people with venous leg ulcers (VLU).

Method: Five databases were searched, and two authors extracted data and appraised the quality of selected papers using the RevMan risk of bias tool. Due to heterogeneity in the types of compression and instruments used to evaluate HRQoL, meta-analysis was not appropriate; thus, a narrative synthesis of findings was undertaken.

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Microglia play crucial roles in immune responses and contribute to fundamental biological processes within the central nervous system (CNS). In neurodegenerative diseases, microglia undergo functional changes and can have both protective and pathogenic roles. Microglia in the retina, as an extension of the CNS, have also been shown to be affected in many neurological diseases.

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Smart, Internet-connected devices-the so-called "Internet of Things" (IoT)-pose significant threats to victim-survivors of domestic and family violence (DFV). IoT systems have been used to abuse, harass, monitor, intimidate, and gaslight victim-survivors. We present findings from an abusability analysis that examined 13 IoT devices and allowed us to make several observations about common vulnerabilities to victim-survivors of DFV.

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Aim: To explore the experiences primary care Advanced Nurse Practitioners have had in relation to deprescribing opioids in chronic non-malignant pain.

Design: A qualitative interview study.

Methods: Primary care Advanced Nurse Practitioners were recruited from across the Northern Ireland GP Federations.

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In order to ensure a strong research design, literature stresses the adoption of a research paradigm that is consistent with the researcher's beliefs about the nature of reality. In this article we provide an overview of research paradigm choices in relation to the creation of a Medical Education e-Professionalism (MEeP) framework discussing the research design, research methods, data collection and analysis to enhance the transparency of our previously published research. The MEeP framework was conceived to help Health Care Professionals (HCPs) safeguard the construct of professionalism in the digital context.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure on the corneal microstructure using conjunctival UV autofluorescence (CUVAF) as a marker of exposure.

Methods: Young healthy adults aged 18 to 35 years were recruited. Participant's demographics and sun exposure behavior were recorded using questionnaires.

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Objectives: The fundamental role of medical education is the transformation of students to doctors, through a process of education and professional identity formation (PIF), which can be informed by several educational, behavioural and emotional factors. PIF has been deemed to be of equal importance to the acquisition of clinical knowledge and skills and includes constructs such as professionalism, leadership and resilience. We aimed to assess rofessional dentity formation, professionaism, eadership nd esilience (PILLAR) in the junior years of medical school in the 2020/2021 academic year and illustrate the potential role of quantitative assessment to demonstrate progression in these areas.

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Background: To compare graft survival of endothelial keratoplasty (EK) versus penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in patients with iridocorneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome and identify ocular features associated with graft survival.

Methods: Observational, prospective, cohort study. A total of 30 806 first grafts performed between 1985 and 2020 were identified through the Australian Corneal Graft Registry and included in this observational, prospective cohort study.

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Background: Cryoprecipitate is used primarily to replenish fibrinogen levels in patients. Little is known about the presence of micro- or nano-sized particles in cryoprecipitate. Therefore, we aimed to quantify these particles and investigate some pre-analytical considerations.

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Medical Professionalism (MP) defined as values, behaviours and attitudes that promote professional relationships, public trust and patient safety is a vital competency in health profession education. MP has a distinctive uniqueness due to cultural, contextual, conceptual, and generational variations. There is no standard instructional strategy to probe the understanding of MP in a cohesive, structured, interactive manner.

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Aim: To determine the monetary costs identified in economic evaluations of treatment with compression bandages among adults with venous leg ulcers (VLU).

Method: A scoping review of existing publications was conducted in February 2023. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used.

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